Henry (born ) is a

tuatara The tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') is a species of reptile endemic to New Zealand. Despite its close resemblance to lizards, it is actually the only extant member of a distinct lineage, the previously highly diverse order Rhynchocephal ...

who resides in Queens Park, in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

, New Zealand. He was hatched on Stephens Island, which is north of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

, and was moved to the

Southland Museum and Art Gallery The Southland Museum and Art Gallery Niho o te Taniwha is located in Gala Street, Invercargill, New Zealand. It is Southland's largest cultural and heritage institution, and contains a wide variety of the region's art, history and natural hist ...

in 1970. He had a cancerous tumour removed from him in 2008 and became a father for the first time in 2009, which received world-wide media attention. In 2024, amidst the demolition and rebuilding of the Southland Museum, Henry was moved to a new habitat with other tuataras within Queens Park.

Biography

Henry was hatched some time between the 1890s and the 1910s on Stephens Island, off the north coast of the

, and is believed to be the oldest tuatara alive today. Henry arrived at the

in 1970. He was named after

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

and, according to tuatara keeper Lindsay Hazley, "The plan was for Henry to have lots of wives." The staff tried to get him to breed with a female named Mildred in the 1980s but he bit her tail off. He fought with other tuatara, including a male named Albert. Because he was aggressive, he was kept alone. A cancerous tumour was removed from Henry's genital region in 2008, which caused Henry's

libido In psychology, libido (; ) is psychic drive or energy, usually conceived of as sexual in nature, but sometimes conceived of as including other forms of desire. The term ''libido'' was originally developed by Sigmund Freud, the pioneering origin ...

to come back. In 2009, Henry became a father for the first time, at the age of about 111. This surprised experts, who believed that it was too late for Henry to have offspring. The female, named Mildred, who Henry had previously spurned in the 1980s, was believed to be in her seventies. She laid 12 eggs, of which 11 hatched after about 223 days. This gathered worldwide media attention. In 2013, staff became concerned that Henry had become infertile. It was not known if it was because of his age, his lifestyle, or the cancer which had been removed about five years prior. In 2009, the film ''Love in Cold Blood'' was made, which featured the romance of Henry and Mildred. It won the Best New Zealand Film and Best New Zealand Emerging Talent awards at the 2010 Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival. In 2015,

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to ...

, who was christened as Henry, met the tuatara at

Invercargill Airport Invercargill Airport is a fully secured controlled international designated airport located 1.6 km (one mile) west of the Central business district of Invercargill at the bottom of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the southernmost co ...

as part of a tour of the country. In 2019, the Southland Museum and Art Gallery announced that they would move most of their tuatara to the

Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds (Māori language, te reo Māori: ''Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka'') are an extensive network of ria, sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination ...

, but keep Henry, Mildred and a few other tuatara. In June 2024, Henry and 16 other tuatara were moved to a new habitat in Queens Park while the Southlands Museum is being demolished and rebuilt, after being kept out of public for a year. The opening ceremony saw over 2,000 attendees, and was advertised as Henry's housewarming. It was reported in 2024 that Henry "holds the world record for living in captivity at more than 46 years."

References

{{Reflist

External links

Love in Cold Blood
a short film about Henry Individual animals in New Zealand Invercargill Individual reptiles Rhynchocephalia